Bathsheba - Wife of King David and Mother of Solomon By Jack Zavada Updated December 21, 2015. The relationship between Bathsheba and King David did not begin well, but she later became his loyal wife and mother of King Solomon , the wisest ruler of Israel. David forced Bathsheba to commit adultery with him while her husband, Uriah the Hittite, was away at war. When she became pregnant, David tried to trick Uriah into sleeping with her so it would look like the child was Uriah's. Uriah refused. David then plotted to have Uriah sent to the front lines of battle and abandoned by his fellow soldiers; Uriah was killed by the enemy. After Bathsheba finished mourning Uriah, David took her for his wife. But David's actions displeased God, and the baby born to Bathsheba died. Bathsheba bore David other sons, most notably Solomon . God so loved Solomon that Nathan the prophet called him Jedidiah, which means "beloved of Jehovah." Bathsheba's Accomplishments: Bathsheba was a faithful wife to David.

She was especially loyal to her son Solomon, making sure he followed David as king, even though Solomon was not David's firstborn son. Bathsheba is one of only five women listed in the ancestry of Jesus Christ ( Matthew 1:6 ). Bathsheba's Strengths: Bathsheba was wise and protective. She used her position to ensure both her and Solomon's safety when Adonijah tried to steal the throne. Life Lessons: Women had few rights in ancient times. When King David summoned Bathsheba, she had no choice but to sleep with him. After David had her husband murdered, she had no choice when David took her for his wife. Despite being mistreated, she learned to love David and saw a promising future for Solomon. Often circumstances seem stacked against us , but if we keep our faith in God, we can find meaning in life . God makes sense when nothing else does. Hometown: 2 Samuel 11:1-3, 12:24; 1 Kings 1:11-31, 2:13-19; 1 Chronicles 3:5; Psalm 51:1.

Occupation: Queen, wife, mother, counselor of her son Solomon. Family Tree: Husbands - Uriah the Hittite, and King David. Sons - An unnamed son, Solomon, Shammua, Shobab, and Nathan. Key Verses: 2 Samuel 11:2-4 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, "She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite." Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. ( NIV ) 2 Samuel 11:26-27 When Uriah's wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the LORD.

( NIV ) 2 Samuel 12:24 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and made love to her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The LORD loved him; ( NIV ) 6. Caught in the Tempter’s Trap—The Story of David and Bathsheba | Bible.org From the series: Living in Love: Secrets from Bible Marriages PREVIOUS PAGE | NEXT PAGE 6. Caught in the Tempter’s Trap—The Story of David and Bathsheba If the Bible were a human book, written to magnify man, the story we are about to study would have been carefully edited or completely eliminated. But the Bible is a divine book, written to glorify God, and as surprising as the fact may be to some, this story exalts the Lord. That is why we cannot overlook it in our study of marriage relationships in the Bible. The story concerns David, the greatest hero of Hebrew history, and by God’s testimony, a man after His own heart (1 Sam. 13:14; Acts 13:22). But men have weaknesses, even men after God’s own heart.

And God is not ashamed to share with us the weaknesses of His greatest saints. We learn some indispensable lessons from their mistakes, such as the utter vileness of our hearts, the horrible consequences of our sin, and the unfathomable depths of God’s forgiving grace. So let us learn from David. David first gained national prominence as a teenager. When a teenaged boy kills a giant of a man who has every brave Israelite soldier cowering in fear, people are going to notice. Women all over Israel were singing his praises: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands” (1 Sam. 18:7). In addition to that, the Bible indicates that he was extremely good looking, an extraordinary athlete, an accomplished musician, and a brilliant poet. And word had it that he would be the next king of Israel (1 Sam. 16:13). Talk about teenage matinee idols—I would imagine every teenaged girl in Israel had a crush on David. In fact, Scripture says, “All Israel and Judah loved David” (1 Sam. 18:16). And who should land him but Saul’s daughter, Michal. She had the inside track all along.

After all, she was the king’s daughter, and David was spending a lot of time around the palace. And besides that, Michal had let it be known that she was in love with David (1 Sam. 18:20). But Scripture implies that David married her more on a dare than out of genuine love. On one occasion after their marriage, Michal helped David escape from the wrath of her father (1 Sam. 19:11-17). She obviously could not go along with him under those distressing circumstances, so Saul took advantage of the situation and gave her to another man (1 Sam. 25:44). David’s teenage marriage ended in failure. Too many do. Getting married before we are fully ready to assume the responsibilities of adult life has too high a risk factor to make good sense. There is never any harm in waiting awhile to be sure. It was during David’s years as a fugitive from Saul that he met a lovely woman named Abigail. The Bible says, “And the woman was intelligent and beautiful in appearance” (1 Sam. 25:3).

Her wisdom, maturity, beauty, and gracious charm completely disarmed David, and when God removed her ignorant and uncouth husband, Nabal, David lost no time in proposing marriage (1 Sam. 25:39). It was a good choice. And now that Michal was another man’s wife through no fault of his, many would feet that it was acceptable to the Lord. But the next thing we read in Scripture was clearly not acceptable. “David had also taken Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they both became his wives” (1 Sam. 25:43). David knew God had chosen him to be the next king over Israel, and he also knew what God had said about Israel’s kings. Before the people ever entered the land, God warned them that someday they would want a king like the nations around them. He would allow them to appoint one of their countrymen whom he would choose, but he had to be careful not to multiply wives for himself lest they turn his heart away from the Lord (Deut. 17:14-17).

Yet we learn very soon in the biblical record that David took four more wives: Maacah, Haggith, Abital, and Eglah (2 Sam. 3:2-5). And we can hardly believe our eyes when shortly after that we read, “Meanwhile David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem” (2 Sam. 5:13). It was not that David’s physical desires were so very different from any other normal man’s; it’s just that most other oriental kings had harems to display their wealth and power, and David let the philosophy of the world supersede the revealed will of God. But it does reaffirm for us that David was very, very human, and it does expose to us one of his major areas of weakness. He was somewhere in his forties now, the vulnerable age, they tell us. He had accomplished some remarkable military feats, extending the borders of Israel and securing them against every major surrounding nation. He owed himself a rest, or so he thought, and that is where our story begins. Look first at the hollow pleasures of sin.

“Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem” (2 Sam. 11:1). Kings went out to battle in spring because the winter months curtailed the movement of troops. This Ammonite campaign was a mop-up affair, left over from the previous fighting season. Israel had already defeated the Syrians whom the Ammonites had hired against them, so David probably figured that finishing the job with the Ammonites themselves would be a pushover. While his proper place was providing leadership for his men on the field of battle, he let spring fever get the best of him and he stayed at home, shirking his duty. After all, he was the king. He could do anything he pleased. Evading responsibility is often the first step to spiritual decline. I sense a growing feeling, particularly among young people, that we can do pretty much whatever we want to do. And we don’t have to do anything we don’t want to do. This is the era of doing your own thing.

It is true that we can do whatever we please, but not without paying the price spiritually. God has a plan for our lives. He has laid certain responsibilities upon us, and when we avoid them with excuses or rationalizations, we open a Pandora’s box of assorted temptations that weaken our will to walk with God. That seems to be right where David is when this scene opens. “Now when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king’s house” (2 Sam. 11:2). Do you get the picture? It was evening, and David was just getting out of bed. If we had any doubt about why he stayed home, it is all gone now. And it was not to catch up on his paper work. David was goofing off! “And from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance” (2 Sam. 11:2). If he had used his head, he would have gotten off of that rooftop patio pronto. But he lingered, and let his eyes feast on every inch of Bathsheba’s fleshly charms, until he could think of nothing but having her for himself. Being tempted is no sin.

But lingering over it, toying with it, flirting with it—that is inexcusable, as we saw in the case of Eve. We can tantalize ourselves to such a degree that resisting the sin is no longer considered to be a possible option. The only question that remains is how we are going to do it. God says we should flee temptation (2 Tim. 2:22). And he will help us handle it if we obey. But if we dawdle and dally over it, we are doomed. When a man finds himself attracted to a woman, for example, and either one of them is married, he needs to get himself out of that situation quickly. The longer he nurtures the relationship, the harder it will be to break it off, until ultimately he will hear himself saying stupid things like, “But I just can’t live without her.” And before he realizes the implications of what he is saying, his life and family will be in shambles. Bathsheba is not guiltless either. She may not have purposely enticed David, but she was immodest and indiscreet.

To disrobe and bathe in an open courtyard in full view of any number of rooftop patios in the neighborhood was asking for trouble. She could easily have bathed indoors. Even so in our day, some women do not seem to realize what the sight of their flesh can do to a man. They allow themselves to be pushed into the fashion mold of the world and wear revealing clothes, or nearly nothing; then they wonder why the men they meet cannot think of anything but sex. We must not fail to instruct our younger girls in these matters, particularly as they enter their teen years. Christian parents should teach their daughters facts about the nature of man and the meaning of modesty, then agree on standards for their dress. David found out who the beautiful bather was, sent for her, and the thought became the deed. There is no evidence that this was a forcible rape. Bathsheba seems to have been a willing partner. Her husband was off to war and she was lonely. The glamour of being desired by the attractive king meant more to her than her commitment to her husband and her dedication to God. They probably cherished those moments together; maybe they even assured themselves that it was a tender and beautiful experience. Most do!

But in God’s sight, it was hideous and ugly. Satan had baited his trap and they were now in his clutches. The inevitable happened, and Bathsheba sent word to David that she was pregnant. This was a crisis in that culture, for it would have meant death by stoning according to the Law of Moses (cf. Lev. 20:10). No crisis had ever shaken David before, and he was certainly not going to let this one destroy him. His plan was to bring Bathsheba’s husband home from the battle for a few days; then nobody would ever know whose child she was carrying. But Uriah was too patriotic to enjoy his wife while his countrymen were endangering their lives on the battlefield, so he slept in the barracks with the king’s servants. Then David had to put Plan B into operation. He calmly wrote Uriah’s death warrant, sealed it, and sent it to Captain Joab on the front lines, delivered by Uriah’s own hand. It ordered Joab to put Uriah in the fiercest part of the battle, then retreat from him. And David added murder to his adultery.

After a short period of mourning, Bathsheba entered David’s house and became his wife, and the two lovers finally had each other to enjoy freely and uninterruptedly … except for one thing: “But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the Lord” (2 Sam. 11:27). That brings us to another point: the heavy hand of discipline. David knew he had sinned. We usually do, deep down inside. But he tried to ignore it, tried to go on living as though nothing had happened. If his conscience got too heavy, he could always rationalize by saying things like, “I’m the king, I can do as I please. It was really Bathsheba’s fault, anyway. Besides, who am I hurting? Some men have to die in battle, why not Uriah?” The possibilities available to help us excuse our sin are endless. But there was something gnawing at David in the pit of his stomach, an emptiness he could not describe, accompanied by periods of extreme depression. He later wrote three psalms describing those months out of fellowship with God: Psalms 32, 38 and 51.

Listen to his plaintive cry: “I am bent over and greatly bowed down; I go mourning all day long … I am benumbed and badly crushed; I groan because of the agitation of my heart” (Psa. 38:6, 8). David loved his Lord and tried to worship him, but he found a barrier there; it was the barrier of his own sin. God seemed far away. “Do not forsake me, O Lord; O my God, do not be far from me!” (Psa. 38:21). His friends sensed his irritability and avoided him. “My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague; and my kinsmen stand afar off” (Psa. 38:11). David lived that way for nearly a year. He had his precious Bathsheba, but he had no rest of soul. Then one day God sent the prophet Nathan to David with a very interesting story. “There were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a great many flocks and herds.

But the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb which he bought and nourished, and it grew up together with him and his children. It would eat of his bread and drink of his cup and lie in his bosom, and was like a daughter to him. Now a traveler came to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd, to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him; rather he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him” (2 Sam. 12:1-4). When David heard the story he was furious at the rich man’s selfish insensitivity and insisted that he deserved to die. Guilt does that to us. We usually lash out most harshly and severely at the sins of others when we have the most to hide ourselves. Our subconscious anger with ourselves erupts against them. It was with fear and trembling that Nathan uttered his next words. Other men had lost their heads for saying less than this to kings, but he was bound by his calling to deliver the message of God to the erring king.

He pointed his convicting finger at David and said, “You are the man!” Then he delivered God’s personal message to David: “It is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul. I also gave you your master’s house, and your master’s wives into your care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these! Why have you despised the word of the Lord by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon” (2 Sam. 12:7-9). And the conviction of God’s Spirit penetrated the depths of David’s soul. Sin usually brings unhappy consequences, and God does not always see fit to eliminate them. He knows that experiencing the effects of our sin will help us become more sensitive to His will. The consequences of David’s sin would be far-reaching and long-lasting. First, the sword would never depart from his house (2 Sam. 12:10).

The people in the palace knew what was going on. They could count the months, and they realized that Uriah was not at home when the baby was conceived. It had to be David’s child. Then they thought about Uriah’s death, and the whole thing was much too coincidental. David’s son Absalom knew it. And when he killed his half-brother Amnon for raping his sister (2 Sam. 13:28), he probably justified his actions by thinking, “Dad did it. Why can’t I?” Captain Joab knew it. He was the one who carried out David’s sinister command concerning Uriah. And he probably used it to excuse himself when he murdered Absalom (2 Sam. 18:14), and later Absalom’s captain, Amasa (2 Sam. 20:9, 10). The sword never did depart from David’s house. Our sin affects those closest to us most of all. The second consequence of David’s sin was that the Lord would raise up evil against him out of his own house (2 Sam. 12:11).

Read the story of David’s life and see the fulfillment of this promise for yourself: Amnon’s rape of Tamar, Absalom’s murder of Amnon, Absalom’s rebellion against David, Adonijah’s attempt to seize the throne when David was old. There was certainly evil in David’s house. Third, David’s wives would be taken before his eyes and given to someone else who would be with them in broad daylight (2 Sam. 12:11). David took another man’s wife secretly; now his own wives would be taken publicly. During Absalom’s rebellion, his followers pitched a tent on the palace roof, and Absalom had relations with his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel, fulfilling this prediction (2 Sam. 16:22). Fourth, the child born of David’s illicit union with Bathsheba would die (2 Sam. 12:14). That baby would give the enemies of God cause to blaspheme, so God graciously took the child home to Himself. We grieve with David for the loss of his son, but we are grateful for this assurance of what happens to babies when they die.

David says he will go to be with the child, assuring us that babies enter the presence of God (2 Sam. 12:23). Did you notice why God took the baby, however? That point needs to be reemphasized. It was because by David’s deed he had “given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme.” Now we understand one important reason for divine discipline. It is administered so the enemies of God will know that He is infinitely holy and righteous, that He will deal with sin even in His children. Were He to wink at it with a “Boys will be boys” attitude, he would become the laughingstock of the unbelieving world. David had to bear the consequences of his sin, and so must we. That burden can be heavy, but the time to think about that is before we yield. That brings us finally to the happy certainty of forgiveness. Nathan’s penetrating exposure of David’s sin and his powerful exposition of God’s righteousness brings David to his knees, acknowledging his sin: “I have sinned against the Lord,” he cried (2 Sam. 12:13). These were the words God wanted to hear.

David’s spirit was broken; his heart was contrite (cf. Psa. 51:17). And as a result, he heard the sweetest, most beautiful, most reassuring and encouraging words known to man: “The Lord also has taken away your sin” (2 Sam. 12:13). As David put it in the Psalms, “I acknowledged my sin to Thee, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’; and thou didst forgive the guilt of my sin” (Psa. 32:5). Scripture does not tell us, but I am confident that Bathsheba acknowledged her sin also and God forgave them both. While they could not erase the consequences, they could live in the full assurance of God’s complete forgiveness. It was a great blot on David’s life, the only major blot (cf. 1 Kgs. 15:5). But neither he nor Bathsheba let it ruin the rest of their lives. God forgave them, they forgave themselves, and they went on to live productive lives that glorified the Lord. That is exactly what God wants us to do.

He does not want us to torture ourselves with the guilt of our sin. He wants us to confess it, forsake it, and forget it. Bathsheba seems to have assumed the most prominent place among David’s wives. There is no record that he ever took another wife after her. As an indication of God’s forgiveness, he gave them another son whom they named Solomon, which means “peace.” The Prophet Nathan called him Jedidiah, which means “Beloved of the Lord.” And God assured David that Solomon, son of Bathsheba, would reign in his place and build the Temple (1 Chron. 22:9, 10). As added evidence of God’s grace, Bathsheba was chosen to be one of the four women referred to in the genealogy of our Lord Jesus Christ (Matt. 1:6). The hymn writer put it like this: “Who is a pardoning God like Thee? Or who has grace so rich and free?” That great God of grace stands ready to pardon you. Listen to the Prophet Isaiah: “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near.

Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” (Isa. 55:6, 7). Listen to the Apostle John: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). It matters not how grievous your sin may have been. God stands ready to blot it out. Acknowledge it to him, then accept his gracious forgiveness. Let’s talk it over 1. Why do you think David is called a man after God’s own heart in view of his dreadful sin? 2. What areas of responsibility might you be avoiding that could have a spiritually detrimental effect in the future? 3. How can you help each other avoid temptations relating to the opposite sex? 4. For wives: Is your dress consistent with God’s standards or do you merely dress as the world dictates? 5. What is the meaning of modesty? How should you apply it to your life? As parents, how can you teach your daughters proper standards of dress? 6.

Can you think of times when you have been especially irritable with each other because of your own burden of guilt? Honestly acknowledge those occasions to each other. 7. Did some of your own past sins come to your mind as you read this chapter, sins that you have been trying to ignore? Why not confess them to God, claim the forgiveness he promised in 1 John 1:9, then put them out of your mind once and for all? Bathsheba: Bible | Jewish Women's Archive by Adele Berlin Bathsheba, the wife of David (reigned c. 1005–965 b.c.e.) and the mother of Solomon (reigned c. 968–928 b.c.e.), is featured in each of these roles in one major narrative sequence in the David stories, and she is characterized quite differently in each. The account in 2 Samuel 11–12 of how Bathsheba came to be David’s wife makes clear that the circumstances are morally problematic. Yet because her character is suppressed, she emerges untainted by the adultery and murder for which David receives full blame.

Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah the Hittite, becomes the object of David’s lustful gaze. The story implies that David should have been at the battlefield, leading his troops, but instead he is at home in Jerusalem. From his rooftop he sees a woman bathing; David has her brought to his royal residence and lies with her. Afterward she returns to her home. The adultery results in a pregnancy; this sets in motion David’s plan to pass the child off as Uriah’s and, when this fails, to legitimize the child as his own by ensuring that Uriah will be killed in battle so that David can marry the widowed Bathsheba. Bathsheba seems to know nothing of David’s plan, and, indeed, it unfolds outside her purview. Bathsheba is “on stage” in this story very infrequently and is silent except for the announcement of her pregnancy, which she does not deliver in person. No hint is given of her inner life or of her complicity with or resistance to David’s actions. We see her next after her husband, Uriah, has died, and she reacts as a proper wife would.

2 Sam 11:26 emphasizes her status as Uriah’s wife: “When the wife of Uriah heard that her husband was dead, she made lamentation for him.” Immediately after the mourning period, David marries her and she bears him a son. The child born to David and Bathsheba becomes ill and soon dies. David is portrayed as a distraught father, praying and fasting that the child might live. Of the mother we hear nothing, except that after the child has died, “Then David consoled his wife Bathsheba, and went to her, and lay with her; and she bore a son, and he [or she] named him Solomon” (12:24). One should not conclude that Bathsheba was a callous woman, but rather that the narrator has intentionally shaped the portrayal of her character for a purpose. Bathsheba’s role is intentionally minimized to focus the story on David. David bears the responsibility and the condemnation, and from this point on he is beset by problems within his family that have political implications for his reign. This David is quite different from the man depicted in the Abigail story.

If Bathsheba is portrayed as passive in her early relationship with David, she becomes strongly active toward the end of David’s life in her successful attempt to ensure that her son Solomon will inherit the throne. 1 Kings 1 shows her plotting, along with the prophet Nathan and other supporters of Solomon, to convince David that he has promised the kingship to Solomon. David is by now a pathetic figure who had lost control over his sons long ago. The first three of David’s sons have already died, and the succession will be decided between the fourth son, Adonijah, and the destined heir, Solomon, The operative familial relationship is the mother-son relationship, and it is emphasized in the way the narrator refers to the characters: “Adonijah, son of Haggith” (1 Kgs 1:5), and “Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother” (1 Kgs 1:11). Bathsheba succeeds in having her son designated as David’s successor, but her importance in the narrative does not stop when he has become king, as we see in 1 Kings 2.

When David dies, the unsuccessful Adonijah, who has been assured by Solomon that no harm will come to him if he proves worthy, asks Bathsheba to convey a request to Solomon, for she is considered influential. Adonijah requests that one of David’s concubines, Abishag, be given to Adonijah as his wife. It sounds innocent enough—a small consolation prize from the king to his brother who has lost the throne. Bathsheba conveys the request, with a small change in the wording, to Solomon, whereupon Solomon reacts violently, interpreting the request as an attack on his position as king. The request costs Adonijah his life. Why did Bathsheba agree to convey this request? There are several possible explanations. Perhaps Bathsheba understood the impropriety of the request (it has been interpreted as tantamount to claiming the throne) and knew how Solomon would react. She might have been happy to see Adonijah killed so that he could not remain a rival to her son. Or perhaps Bathsheba would have been only too happy to have Abishag removed from Solomon’s household and transferred to Adonijah’s.

Abishag had been in David’s bed when Bathsheba came to convince the feeble old king to designate Solomon as his successor. And, although David did not have sexual relations with Abishag, she was, in a sense, a younger rival to Bathsheba herself for David’s favors and perhaps for future influence over Solomon. Whatever the explanation, Bathsheba plays an important role in the succession of Solomon to the throne. Bibliography Bailey, Randall C. David in Love and War: The Pursuit of Power in 2 Samuel 10–12. Sheffield, England: 1990. Berlin, Adele. Poetics and Interpretation of Biblical Narrative. Sheffield, England, 1983; Indiana: 1994. Gunn, David M. The Story of King David: Genre and Interpretation. Sheffield, England: 1978. Levenson, Jon D., and Baruch Halpern. “The Political Import of David’s Marriages.” Journal of Biblical Literature 99 (1980): 507–518. Meyers, Carol, General Editor. Women in Scripture.

New York: 2000. Sternberg, Meir. The Poetics of Biblical Narrative. Bloomington, Indiana: 1985. BATHSHEBA:beautiful wife of David, mother of Solomon King's love triangle leads to murder!! People in the story Bathsheba, beautiful, intelligent, very much a political animal. Good at manipulating people. David, powerful, charismatic. Politically clever, but often governed by his emotions, especially in family matters. Uriah, noble but hapless husband of Bathsheba, who almost certainly knew about her infidelity with David. Solomon, son of Bathsheba and David. Adonijah, popular son of David, expected to be king after David. Nathan, astute adviser to David after he made Jerusalem his capital. Held a special position described as 'prophet', where he was able to advise the king in a frank manner not allowed to other courtiers and advisers. Abishag, an exceptionally beautiful young woman. The Seduction - of whom? by whom? Bathsheba was beautiful, young, well-connected. She married Uriah, one of the top soldiers in King David's army.

One evening when her husband was away at the battlefront, she was bathing on the curtained flat roof of her house - this was considered a private place for women. King David was above, on the castle walls. He saw her, and was mesmerized by her beauty. He sent for her. She went. They made love. Then she went home. Later she discovered she was pregnant.... She sent a message to the King. Do something, she said. My husband has been away, so he will know the baby is not his. David sent for Uriah, who left the fighting and came back to Jerusalem. He went straight to the palace. What do you want of me, he asked the king. Give me a report of what's happening at the battlefield, said David. Read Bible Text 2 Samuel 11:1- 6 Her Husband Becomes Suspicious When that was finished, David told Uriah to go and visit his wife. If he did, the inconvenient pregnancy could be hushed up. But Uriah prevaricated. He stayed all night with the other soldiers at the palace, while Bathsheba waited for him at home. Next day, David tried again.

He got Uriah drunk, urging him to go to his wife. But still the wretched man would not go down into the city and visit his home. It was all too obvious that Uriah knew Bathsheba was pregnant, and refused to 'play the gentleman'. The Uriah Letter, Govaert Flinck David got desperate. He wrote a letter to his most trusted general at the front. Kill the bearer of this letter, but make it look like he died in battle, the letter said. Then David gave the letter to Uriah and told him to return with it to the front. Uriah took the letter, gave it to the general, and was treacherously killed. The Bible says Bathsheba 'wailed' for her dead husband, as well she might. Then King David sent for her, took her into the royal harem, and married her. Read Bible Text 2 Samuel 11: 7-27 Bathsheba Marries King David Her baby was born. It died. Bathsheba became pregnant again, and this time the little boy lived. He was called Solomon. Bathsheba got older, and the boy grew up. She had other children.

She was beautiful and clever, and David loved her. David's Promise, Goodall But David was getting older - much older. There came a time when he couldn't have sex anymore. This was serious, since a king who was no longer virile was not fit to be king. He'd lost his credibility. The courtiers did everything they could. They brought in a beautiful young girl, Abishag, and put her in bed with David, but even that didn't help. It was time for one of his sons to take over, in a co-regency. But which son? Everyone assumed it would be Adonijah, David's eldest living son - there had been other sons, but one way and another they had each died violent deaths. Read Bible Text 2 Samuel 12:15- 25 Who Will Succeed to the Throne? Bathsheba was in a dangerous situation, but she was not going to give up without a struggle. She had formidable allies - the royal adviser Nathan, the head of the mercenary soldiers Benaiah, and the priest Zadok.

William Cecil, chief adviser to Elizabeth I; an wise adviser like Nathan could steer a ruler in the right direction, and the whole kingdom would benefit Between them, these kingmakers devised a plan. Bathsheba went to David in his bedroom and told him that Adonijah had already usurped the throne. She told him that, almost alone among his children, Solomon remained loyal. She feared for her own life. You are still king, she said. Do something. There was a coup d'etat in Jerusalem, and when the dust died down Solomon was on the throne. Bathsheba was now Queen Mother, the most powerful position a woman could hold. Read Bible Text 1 Kings 1:1-31 Bathsheba Gets Rid of a Threat But Adonijah was still alive, and still a threat. Solomon could not kill his brother outright. He was after all the older brother, and a lot of people still wanted him as king. But no-one knew better than Bathsheba that the situation had to be resolved. How to get rid of Adonijah? Again, she devised a plan.

A royal throne covered with small ivory carvings; thrones of ancient kings were probably like this She went to Solomon in the throne-room of the palace, and there in front of the courtiers she told her son that Adonijah had asked her if she would help him marry Abishag, the young woman who had been put into David's bed. It sounds reasonable enough, but it wasn't. A man who married the wives of a previous king could claim the throne himself. Bathsheba was accusing Adonijah of treason. No-one dared question whether Bathsheba's accusation was true or not. She was too powerful now. Solomon had to execute his half-brother, like it or not. There was no trial, just a swift dagger to the heart. Bathsheba's son was secure on the throne, and her position was safe. She could rest on her laurels.

Bathsheba - All the Women of the Bible - Bible Gateway Scripture References— 2 Samuel 11:2, 3; 12:24; 1 Kings 1:11-31; 2:13-19; 1 Chronicles 3:5 Name Meaning—The Seventh Daughter, or The Daughter of an Oath. “Bath” means “daughter.” A kindred name is Bath Shua, a Canaanite name which implies, “the daughter of opulence.” The wife of Judah is referred to as “Shua’s daughter” ( Genesis 38:2; 1 Chronicles 2:3 ). Bath Shua was also the name of the daughter of Ammiel and wife of David ( 1 Chronicles 3:5 ). Family Connections—Bathsheba came of a God-fearing family. She was the daughter of Eliam or Ammiah, who was the son of Ahithophel. Eliam, whose name means “God is gracious,” was one of David’s gallant officers. Bathsheba became the wife of Uriah, the most loyal of David’s men.

After the murder of Uriah, she became the wife of David, and mother of five sons by him. The first died in infancy. The others were Solomon, Shimea, Shobub and Nathan. She is mentioned in our Lord’s genealogy as “her that had been the wife of Uriah” ( Matthew 1:6 ). The sacred record informs us that David’s association with Bathsheba was the only stain upon the escutcheon of David. “David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah” ( 1 Kings 15:5 ). If this was the only blot on his page, it was a heavily engrained one, and one that could not be erased, as far as the effects of his treatment of Uriah was concerned. While God freely pardons a sinner, often the effects of committed sin remain.

The tragic lapse in the life of the man after God’s own heart is built up with consummate art, from David’s first sight of Bathsheba to the climax of his unutterable remorse when realizing the enormity of his most grievous sin, he flung himself upon the mercy of God. The sad story begins with the significant phrase, “But David tarried still at Jerusalem” ( 2 Samuel 11:1 ). The Israelites were at war with the Ammonites, and the king who had shown himself brave and victorious in battle should have been with his army. But now a mature man, and veteran of many wars, and ruler over Israel for some twelve years now David had become somewhat soft and self-indulgent. He had had his day of hard campaigning and war weariness. Now it was time to leave the rigors and risks of battle to his officers, and sit back and take things easy. But no longer fighting the battle of the Lord, David was open to attack and so found himself involved in the triangle drama of passion, intrigue and murder. Lazing around on the flat roof of his palace, David saw a woman on the roof of a nearby house undressing and bathing herself, and his passions were excited.

David, ever attracted by lovely women, coveted her, and became guilty of an outrageous disgrace. Learning of Bathsheba’s pregnant condition, David hurried Uriah home to allay suspicion, but returning, the devoted soldier, a man of highest principle, refused any physical contact with his wife. David’s clever plan failed, and the plot thickens. Uriah must be gotten rid of, so he was sent back to the battlefield with a letter to Joab to put Uriah in a foremost place where he was bound to be killed. Godly, gallant Uriah had no ideas that that sealed letter carried his death warrant. Thus, for David lust, adultery, deceit, treachery and murder followed in quick succession. After the accustomed period of mourning Bathsheba became the wife of David, and their child of an adulterous union was born without disgrace, only to die within a week of his birth. “The Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bare David.” The deep grief of David over the sickness and death of the child, while not relieving the king of his murderous crime, gives us a glimpse of his better nature and of his faith in reunion beyond the grave.

Perhaps no other passage of the Bible has been used to comfort sorrowing hearts in the hour of death as that in which David assures us of immortality. Mourning over his dead child he said, “Can I bring him back again?” No, he could not. Then came words binding up the cruel wound death causes, “I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.” Both David and Bathsheba must have had much agony of soul as they became deeply conscious that the death of their son, conceived out of wedlock, was a divine judgment upon their dark sin. Divinely instructed, Nathan the prophet brought David to a realization of his terrible evil, and sincere in his confession of his iniquity, he received from Nathan the assuring word, “The Lord also hath put away thy sin.” Much has been written about David’s repentance preserved for us in Psalm 51 —a Psalm saturated with penitential tears—and of Psalm 32 , expressing David’s gratitude to God for His pardoning grace and mercy. But graciously forgiven, even God could not avert the natural consequences of David’s transgression, and he came to prove its inevitable subsequent sorrow.

Evil rose up against him in his own house ( 2 Samuel 12:11 ). David found himself disgraced by one son ( 13:4 ), banished by another ( 15:19 ), revolted against by a third ( 1 Kings 2 ), bearded by his servant, betrayed by his friends, deserted by his people, bereaved of his children. What about Bathsheba? Did her tears of repentance mingle with those of her husband’s? It would seem so, because God blessed them with another son whom they called Solomon, meaning, “Beloved of the Lord.” Why was not such a son given to one of David’s other wives? Given to David and Bathsheba was not Solomon an evidence and expression of God’s pardoning love for both? Then, is not Bathsheba’s inclusion in the genealogy of Jesus ( Matthew 1 ) another token that God had put her sins behind His back? Restored to divine favor, and now virtuous and wise as well as beautiful, Bathsheba brought up her son Solomon in all godly diligence and care.

Solomon himself came to write, “Train up a child in the way he should go” ( Proverbs 22:6 ), which counsel reflected his own godly upbringing. Tradition says that it was Bathsheba who composed Proverbs 31 , as an admonition to Solomon on his marriage to Pharaoh’s daughter. If this be so, we can understand all the warnings against the flatteries of strange women with which Proverbs abounds. The rest of Bathsheba’s life is veiled in silence. We can imagine how noble calmness, gentle dignity and queenly courage became hers. That she retained her influence over David until his death is proven by the way she reminded the king of his promise to make their son, Solomon, his successor. The veil of silence is lifted again when Solomon became king, and Bathsheba, whom Solomon revered, came into his presence to ask that Abishag, who cared for David in his last days, be given in marriage to Adonijah, the son of Haggith, one of David’s other wives. © 1988 Zondervan.

All Rights Reserved Bible Gateway Bathsheba, King David's Most Famous Wife < Continued from page 1 David Connives Uriah's Death Not long after Bathsheba and David committed adultery, Bathsheba sent a message to David telling him she was pregnant. Now the pressure was really on the king, who might have concealed his affair with Bathsheba, but couldn't hide her pregnancy for long. Instead of owning up to the liaison and making restitution, David took an even more sinful approach to the crisis. First, 2 Samuel 11:7-11 says that David tried to attribute Bathsheba's pregnancy to Uriah. He recalled Uriah from the front, supposedly to give him a report on the battle, and then told him to take some leave and visit his wife. But Uriah didn't go home; he stayed within the palace barracks. David asked Uriah why he didn't go home, and loyal Uriah replied that he wouldn't dream of having a conjugal visit when David's army at the front has no such opportunity.

continue reading below our video 4 Tips for Improving Test Performance Next, in 2 Samuel 12 and 13, David invited Uriah for dinner and got him drunk, figuring that intoxication will arouse Uriah's desire for Bathsheba. But David was foiled again; drunk though he was, honorable Uriah returned to the barracks and not to his wife. At this point David was desperate. In verse 15, he wrote a letter to his general, Joab, telling him to put Uriah in the front lines where the fighting is fiercest, and then to withdraw, leaving Uriah undefended. David sent this letter to Joab by Uriah, who had no idea that he was carrying his own death sentence! David and Bathsheba's Sin Results in Death Sure enough, Joab put Uriah in the front lines when David's army attacks Rabbath after a long siege, although Joab didn't withdraw the army as David instructed. Despite Joab's action, Uriah and other officers were killed. After a mourning period, Bathsheba was brought to the palace to become the latest of King David's wives, thus assuring the legitimacy of their child.

David thought he pulled off this caper until the prophet Nathan came to visit in 2 Samuel 12. Nathan told the powerful king a tale of a poor shepherd whose lamb was stolen by a rich man. David flew into a rage, demanding to know who the man was so that he could exact judgment on him. Nathan calmly told the king: "You are the man," meaning that God had revealed to the prophet the truth of David's adultery, deceit and murder of Uriah. Even though David had committed sins worthy of execution, said Nathan, God instead exacted judgment upon David and Bathsheba's newborn son, who subsequently died. David consoled Bathsheba by getting her pregnant again, this time with a son they name Solomon. Bathsheba Became Solomon's Closest Adviser Although she seems passive at the beginning of her relationship with David, Bathsheba became King David 's most famous wife because of the way she secured David's throne for their son, Solomon. By now David was old and feeble, and his oldest surviving son, Adonijah, attempted to usurp the throne before his father died.

According to 1 Kings 1:11, the prophet Nathan urged Bathsheba to tell David that Adonijah was preparing to take the throne by force. Bathsheba told her aged husband that only their son Solomon remained loyal, so the king named Solomon his co-regent. When David died, Solomon became king after executing his rival Adonijah. The new King Solomon valued his mother's help so much that he had a second throne installed for her so that she became his closest adviser until her death. Bathsheba and David References: The Jewish Study Bible (Oxford University Press, 2004). "Bathsheba," Women in the Bible, URL = "Bathsheba," Women in Scripture, Carol Meyers, General Editor (Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000).

Question: Which Biblical king was the son of David and Bathsheba?
Answer: SOLOMON